The Puzzle's Test
by Issue No 2708786
Summary: Young Luffy buys a puzzle game, but his mean older brothers break it apart. But why he does not know.


Luffy put the small wooden shape down, between the places where it fit. He happily leaned backwards and stared at the drawing that was forming.

Luffy had been working on the puzzle for ages; There were only three spaces left!

Reaching down he stuck his hand into the box, feeling around for the remaining pieces.

Nothing.

Frowning he turned and blinked at the empty box beside him. A wave of disappointment washed over him, he worked so hard for so long and somehow he had lost the pieces. He gave way to tears, and silent as he come so as not to alert his brothers to his cry baby ways.

"What's wrong Luffy?" Came Sabo's voice from behind, and the younger boy bite his lip in an attend to stop crying.

"Nothing..." Luffy said in a low voice, trying to find the fact that it was shaking.

"Nothing? I did not know nothing could make you cry." Ace's voice came next, he walked around and kneed down in front of Luffy's face. He frowned deeply as he looked at the puzzle and his younger brother.

"It's nothing!" Luffy said firmly as he stood and quickly walked out of the room, leaving the older boys to stare after him.

"Nothing huh?" Ace snorted as he stood and turned to Sabo, "What do you think?"

"I think Luffy's missing important pieces." Sabo replied causing the other to stare at him in shock, before bursting out with laugher.

"I already thought so too!" Ace laughed loudly, holding his stomach.

"That's not what I meant!" Sabo hissed out glaring at his brother, "Luffy's puzzles! There are pieces missing and none left in the box!"

"Oh...right..." Ace said as he got over his laughing fit, he was silent for a moment, then he started snickering again.

"Ace..." Sabo said while shaking his head, he glanced down at the box then asked, "Where did Luffy get that anyway? he seems to like to a lot for him to sit in one spot long enough."

"Market place." Ace answered as he looked down at the image that was there, "He had a few Beils and wanted to buy something. It's a pirate ship? I thought it was just waves or a drawing of the water."

"Yeah...it a ship" Sabo said as he looked at the pirate ship, "The person in the drawing is wearing a straw hat."

"The pirate mark has a straw hat!" Ace went on as he pointed to the sails, "And what is that figurehead? A sunflower?"

"Maybe the sun it's self?" Sabo said as he sat down and studied the person in the drawing more, the person was standing with his arms crossed facing towards them. The straw hat upon his head, hiding his face from view. The only thing that could be made out, was the grin on the man's lips.

"Looks like their in a storm." Ace said as he sat besides his brother and continue to look at the grey drawing. Waves were crashing against the ship, dark clouds overhead with rain falling. Still the man standing looked a picture of calmness as he grin out at them.

The person in the drawing moved.

The two boys fell backwards letting out a surprise sound as they landed on their rears.

"_**What was that**_?" The pair said together, they faced each other and stared. Ace was the first to move again, he jump up and kneed in front of the puzzle.

The head had been raised and the arms looked as they were starting to come undone. The ship was titled a little differently and the wave was higher, looking like it was looking to come down on top of the man.

Ace felt Sabo come beside him, he glanced at him for a second then turned back to the grey drawing. However there was a bit of colour to it now. The straw hat's sash was now tinted red.

"It has to be evil..." Ace whispered soft, eyes never leaving the drawing, "We got to get rid of the thing before Luffy comes back."

"What about Luffy!" Sabo hissed just as softy, "He seems to love the thing..." He paused for a moment, "Do you think he knows? You said something about this being waves before, right?"

He remembered something, he turned to the box of the floor and picked it up flipping it over. Ace's eyes widen and Sabo's held his breathe. It was a normal drawing of a calm sea no storm or ship in view.

"I don't care if Luffy likes the thing or not." Ace said with a bit of a growl, and glared down at the puzzles, "If this thing is evil, then it would explain Luffy's behaver over the past week."

"Mmmm..." Sabo hummed and nodding his head in agreement then turned to Ace,"I thought that he was just coming down with a cold or something. Since he was so quite."

"Yeah." Ace sat up and looked at Sabo, he then gazed over at the door hoping Luffy did not choose at this moment to come back and back at Sabo once more, "I did too. He gave me a heart attack when he said he was not hungry this morning and th-"

_'….shishishishishishsishi...'_

The two ten years old froze and slowly their eyes downwards, the man in the drawing was moving again. Suddenly they heard the wind and the rain, thunder roaring in the background. The head lifted right up and looked them in the eye.

The darted away fast, both jumped behind a large wooden box. They kneed with their back against the box, breathing heavily from the shock.

"It did it again!" Sabo hissed out as if Ace did not know, "I can still hear it!"

"I know!" Ace said angry glaring straight ahead of him, "We'll break it!"

"What?" Sabo asked not thinking well with the sound of the sea slashing, rain pouring, thunder booming and the laugher somehow became the loudest of the lot.

"Break it!" Ace said darkly as he spun around and held his hands on the box peering over.

"Of course! It a puzzle!" Sabo cried out as he copied Ace and peered over as well.

_'….shishishishishishsishi...'_

A chill ran down their spines. They stared hard at the puzzle of the floor, which had become like a window with water slashing out and soaking the wooden flooring around it.

There was no sign but both boys jumped over the box at the same time, running full speed at the puzzle. They held out their arms as they dived and reached out for the thing. Just as an arm shoot upwards, it bent at the elbow and seemed to be making a grab for them.

_'….shishishishishishsishi...'_

"What are you doing?" A voice asked from behind the two boys; "AH! MY PUZZLE!"

Ace and Sabo leaped off the floor and stared down at the puzzle pieces, they were everywhere. They turned to see a tearful eyed Luffy standing over it, two fat tears ran down his cheeks and he saw his hard work destroyed.

"Why?" Luffy asked as he turned to his two older brothers.

"It's evil!" Ace said loudly as he crossed his arms over his chest with no regret of what he just done.

"It's a puzzle!" Luffy screamed at them, "Of course it's evil!"

"No Luffy you don't understand," Sabo started stepping forward, "It is an evil puzzle you have to get rid of the thing."

"Whatever..." Luffy mumbled with a small voice, he bent down and started to pick up the pieces and threw them into the box, "I couldn't find the last parts anyway..."

"Good." Ace said as he came forwards, "Since it's your evil puzzle, Luffy you can dry the floor!"

"What?" Luffy said as he tilted his head in confusion, "Huh?"

"You heard me! Dry the floor!" Ace shouted at his brother who was looking around the floor and then back at him.

"But Ace the floor is not wet..." Luffy replied as he pointed down.

Sabo quickly looked down his face growing pale, while Ace slowly glanced down his eyes widen and his mouth dropped slightly.

"What the –?" Sabo and Ace screamed together, their voices scaring some birds in the near by tree.

Luffy closed the lid and stood up, taking the box over to the ladders to get down from their tree house home. As he left he heard they both talking fact with each other; not understanding he quickly made his way down the ladder with the box underarm.

He had liked the mystery puzzle, it was a lot of fun to watch the skies changing every now and again. And then there was that ship that was coming with the storm, that was great to watch. He liked waving to the man who had a hat just like he did. The man never failed to spot him and gave him a friendly wave back. Luffy grinned as he remembered how shocked the man had been when he saw started seeing passed the pieces, and fully looking at each other.

Luffy wondered what had happened if the last three pieces had been put into place.

"Huh?" Luffy said as he saw something in the grass, "The pieces!" He rushed forward and bent down to pick the the three puzzle pieces, "They must have fallen here at one time... or I dropped them out of the window..."

He grinned down at the pieces in hand, they were thick parts and it would be easy for him to remember where they went, even if it took him a week to get it the first time round. Holding the pieces in his closed fist his grin widen as he ran off, knowing a safe place where he had start the puzzle again.


End file.
